Tasteless by India Lee

Until he had mentioned his family, Sam had never quite felt real to her.  Until he mentioned his sister, she wasn’t sure he had the capacity to care about anything other than himself.  She knew her assumptions were unfounded now, which was a bit of a blow to her ego but also a relief.  Rye could relate to the man that had traipsed into her life, uninvited.  That was all she really needed to take down the wall she had built between them.
    And she had really enjoyed sharing a meal with someone else since it seemed to be a rare occasion these days.  Though she had grown up and continued to run a restaurant, Rye hadn’t seen eating as a social event for herself in years.  Her grandparents used to make a party of every meal, but she recognized now that it came from a need to corral their grandchildren into a corner and make sure they got all their nutrients.  That’s what gave her grandfather the idea of building a fort at the restaurant when the triplets were eight and Rye and Basil were six.  They were all picky eaters but curious kids and the sight of their grandparents carrying bed sheets into the closed restaurant was enough to get their attention.  And so they followed them and watched as they constructed a makeshift tent over the entire family booth, agreeing to eat the Brussels sprouts they had refused just an hour earlier in exchange for entry into the fort.  They hid under the table and carved their names into it and soon, the Sunday night dinner fort became a Somerville tradition.
    For a moment, she considered doing the same for her solo dinner, but Rye realized that little fort would feel just as big and empty as her house did now.  And for the first time in her entire life, Rye wished she lived in the city, closer to her family and the potential for new friends.  But she knew that couldn’t be her life.  At least not while so much of her was still deeply rooted in the rich earth of Dutchess Plains.
    ~
    Every Independence Day, the city made a mass exodus into the surrounding backdrops of beaches, forests, and fields.  The ones who remained were those lucky enough to have access to a rooftop overlooking the fireworks on the river, and the crazy enough to brave the crowded streets in hopes of a view.  Sam was neither of those things, and so he and Damian stuck Gavin, Zoe, and Gemma in the backseat of a rented Yukon and made their way to Somerville Diner.
    Sam had started his day unsure of whether Dutchess Plains had any plans for their own fireworks, but he figured that someone’s phone would have enough reception to look it up once they got there.  After parking their car and unloading the baskets of food they had brought with them to cook, Sam quickly learned that someone else had already decided that there would be fireworks, no matter what.
    “I can’t believe you let us drive all the way up here with loosely packed in the back,” Damian said, holding an aerial tube of fireworks as he looked sternly at Gavin.  “You do realize they’re illegal, right?”
    “Really?” Gavin asked.  “Even up here?”
    “We’re still in the same state, idiot,” Zoe yelled.
    “Well, if you’re not comfortable with bringing them back in the car, I guess we’re going to have to use them before we leave,” Gavin shrugged, a mischievous smile on his face as he helped carry the food inside the diner.  As they unpacked what felt like the entire butcher and produce section of Citarella onto the open kitchen counter, Sam watched as his friends marveled over the space.
    “This is perfect for the fourth,” Gemma said, smiling as she ran her hands over the old wooden surfaces.  “It’s so old-timey and charming.”
    “Yeah,” Gavin agreed.  “It feels like someone could have actually signed the Declaration of Independence here.”
    “It’s not that old,” Sam laughed.  “And it’s not as charming when you’ve been tasked to update it all.”
    “Where’s Rye?” Zoe asked.
    “I don’t